CELEBRATIONS IN COURT AS: ‘WESLIANS’ RETAIN PREMIER LEAGUE STATUS!

MBABANE – After months of turmoil, the Supreme Court has brought closure to the gripping relegation saga surrounding Manzini Wanderers and their rivals.

The close to 10-month-old relegation saga involving Manzini Wanderers, Denver Sundowns and Moneni Pirates was eventually put to rest at the Supreme Court yesterday. The maroon and white hub giants won the appeal application, which was filed by Moneni Pirates on September 27, 2024.
This was after High Court Judge Mumcy Dlamini ruled in favour of Wanderers after they sought its intervention on the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Appeals Board verdict in their protest over Sundowns Skipper Jimoh Moses.

The genesis of the relegation saga happened when Wanderers lodged a protest against Moses, alleging that the player had no valid work permit during their MTN Premier League match, which was played on May 19, 2024 at Somhlolo National Stadium. The teams were hauled before the EFA Disciplinary Committee (DC) which dismissed Wanderers’ appplication; they rushed to the EFA Appeals Board, which also dismissed the case in favour of Ikappa Kappa.

The ‘Weslians’ ran to court to seek intervention on the matter and they were successful as Judge Dlamini ordered that the EFA Appeals Board verdict should be reviewed and set aside and Wanderers be included in the 2024/25 MTN Premier League season. The judge also ordered that Moneni Pirates should not be adversely affected by the ruling.

The matter was back in court yesterday before a three panel of judges, Nkululeko Hlophe, SB Maphalala and S Matsebula to hear the application which was filed by Wanderers to deem the appeal by Pirates abandoned. It was Judge Matsebula, who wrote the judgment which was a unanimous judgment of the court.

Abandoned

The judges declared the appeal deemed abandoned and be struck off the roll on grounds that Pirates failed to file records of appeal, yet Wanderers filed records on behalf of them. On the date of the hearing, Pirates attacked the records as incomplete and in shambles.  They also announced that the all the parties involved should pay the legal costs incurred by Wanderers during the course of the matter.

This made Wanderers, through Advocate Mduduzi ‘Tsotsi’ Mabila, who was instructed by SM Jele Attorneys to submit that Pirates did not oppose Wanderers’ application and did not file an application for condonation the late or non-filing of records in terms of the Rules of Court. When passing the judgment, the judges felt that for Pirates having not opposed the application, filed no heads of argument and filed no bundle of authority, in that result, the court announced that the application for deeming the appeal abandoned and struck off is granted in terms of application dated November 25, 2024.

Meanwhile, an application by the Premier League not to comply with the September 27, 2024 ruling was also dismissed. The parties through consent agreed that the judgement of October 19, where they decided that Pirates should not be included in the matter was also dismissed. This means that the ‘Sea Robbers’ will be relegated.

On the other hand, the PLE, through the Chief Executive Officer Pat ‘Kungumusa’ Vilakati said they were currently waiting for official feedback from their legal representative Meluleki Ndlangamandla before they can provide a response. The maroon and white hub giants Director Wellington Motsa, reacting on the verdict, said they were pleased that the matter has been finally resolved. “We hereby inform our supporters that the court has affirmed our position that we are a Premier League team, meaning that we have never been relegated,” Motsa said. Moneni Pirates Public Relations Officer Meluleki ‘Sluga’ Simelane said he was still waiting for the management to give him an update before he could comment by the time this report was compiled.

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